[Northkeep] Rosamund

[Darin K. Herndon]

Latest updates on Rosamund's father and us.

The doctor's are still trying to pin down exactly what he has.  While
the symptoms seem to come very close to two possible tick borne
diseases, it doesn't exactly match either.  At the moment they are
treating him as if he has one of the two (I'll probably misspell this
but...) called ehrlicia (pronounced as ear lick ia).  Rosamund's
father is Dr. Alexander Bednekoff; he taught chemistry at Pittsburg
State University in Pittsburg, KS for many years.  At one time, he
was a pre-med advisor; I don't think that he wants to wake back up to
find a disease named after him though.  The last blood test results
are due back today (Saturday) so it should confirm or deny the
ehrlicia.

On a positive note, this morning's doctor's report is better.  His
white blood cell count has climbed back into the normal range which
raises hope that his system is beginning to fight off the infection.
To complicate matters though, his lungs are still full of crud (which
is what led to the early report of pneumonia) and that interferes
with his ability to get oxygen into his system.  He is still on a
ventilator to compensate for that.  He is also still mostly out of
it; we're not sure he's had a coherent moment since maybe last
Sunday.  But, the rise in his white count and the fact that the
ventilator is keeping his oxygen level up give us hope that he'll be
waking soon.

I am leaving for Kansas today, as soon as I finish packing.  I will
be in Pittsburg, KS with Rosamund and her family for almost all of
next week.  I will still likely (barring the worst) be on-site at
Lilies War on Wednesday and Thursday (I'm hosting and judging a
heraldic tabard making contest) but otherwise Lilies is out for me.

At Rosamund's request, I'll be bringing the computer with me to
Kansas.  We will check email daily though replying may be sparse.  If
you need to reach us, email us at our private accounts or post a note
to this list and we'll reply when we get the chance.

Etienne
darin-herndon at utulsa.edu
kathy-herndon at utulsa.edu